Hymn to the Seasons

Description

A setting for soprano, clarinet, and piano of words by David Whitter. The piece is in four movements - Introduction and Recitiative, Aria, Cantilena, and Chorale - they represent each of the seasons, from winter in the first movement, to autumn in the fourth. The text draws parallels between the changing seasons and the story of Christ.

Programme Notes:

For soprano, clarinet, and piano, this work was composed in 1990 in memory of the clarinettist Robert Hicks. The first performance was given by Elen ap Roberts, Laura Rodger, and Eugene Asti the following year.The piece is in four movements - Introduction and Recitative, Aria, Cantilena, and Chorale - representing each of the seasons, from winter in the first movement to autumn in the fourth. The poetry, by David Whittler, draws parallels between the changing seasons and the story of Christ. The fruits of the earth come to represent not only his life and death, but also the continuation of the story through Holy Communion.Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press

Hymn to the Seasons

Table of Contents

Hymn to the Seasons

Composer Information

Robert Sherlaw Johnson (1932-2000)

Robert Sherlaw Johnson was born in Sunderland in 1932 and died in November 2000. He was educated at the University of Durham and the Royal Academy of Music, later studying piano in Paris with Jacques Février and composition with Nadia Boulanger, as well as attending some of Messiaen's classes at the Conservatoire. After that, he taught in schools, played the piano for a touring ballet company and a group of Spanish dancers, and established a considerable reputation as a concert pianist, specialising in performances of piano music by major 20th-century composers.